ABSTRACT
Background: The concept of quality of life (QOL) has increasingly attracted the interest of healthcare providers and is considered a valid end point for assessing the overall mental health of patients and their caregivers. Instruments with psychometric and cross-cultural validity are recommended for making accurate QOL assessments.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to provide further validation of the Arabic World Health Organization (WHO)QOL-BREF for use among family caregivers of relatives with psychiatric illnesses in Jordan. Of the 26 items that constitute the scale, 24 are in the domains of physical health, psychological health, social interactions, and environment.
Method: Of the 328 family caregivers approached, data for 266 respondents were kept for analysis. The Arabic WHOQOL-BREF internal consistency, item internal consistency, item discriminant validity, and construct validity were evaluated.
Results: The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was >=0.7. The 24 items constituting the evaluated domains reported an item internal consistency of >=0.4 and met the item discriminant validity criterion of having a higher correlation with its corresponding domain than with other domains. Factor analysis revealed four strong factors that constituted the same constructs as in the WHO report.
Conclusions: This study ascertains further validity of the Arabic WHOQOL-BREF scale for use among family caregivers of relatives with psychiatric illnesses in Jordan.